Update

Seems like without medical news to share, I didn't do very well updating the blog.  In early November, we took the kids to the science center for the lego exhibit.  That was fun, and one of Lainey's first times really trying to stand to play.  She could see that was what the other kids were doing, and she tried really hard to do it too.  These days she can stand if she is holding on to something, and can walk with help or if she is pushing a toy.

And we had a very nice Thanksgiving with Todd's family but came home on Friday because Todd had to leave for business for a week and we wanted to get some things done around here before he left.  Saying good-bye was hard on the kids (especially Doug, not really for Lainey) but we had football to keep us busy on Saturday:

And then we survived a loong week without Todd, and with Lainey and Greg getting sick (bad colds and fevers).  But nowTodd is back and we are all getting over our colds.  Lainey went to the orthopedic doctor yesterday and he is very pleased with how her feet look and her ability to stand and walk.

A Big Week

A lot has happened since my last post, but I want to bring everyone up to date on some exciting Lainey news. Her casts came off!  Here is the last picture I took of her with the casts on - this was right before we left for the doctor's office:

And this is a couple days later, when I remembered she could finally wear jeans! :)

She is SO much lighter and easier to carry around.  But it has been an interesting week.  Right after her casts came off we rushed to the mall for some shoes.  Then we had an appointment with the orthotic center to get her fitted for her braces.  They are a very hard toe-less shoe that fits onto a bar that will keep her feet in place during night and naps.  Monday night was a disaster.  She very much wanted us to take them off and it was a rough night for all of us (except D&G who miraculously slept though all the screaming).  Tuesday nap wasn't great either but then Tuesday she slept all night without a peep!  Since then nights have gone pretty well - sometimes she cries for a little in the night when she bangs into the side of the crib and I think realizes she can't roll over - but she seems to be able to fall back to sleep.

The other interesting thing was that for the first couple of days she wouldn't move much.  She wouldn't crawl or stand - both were things she did very well with her casts on.  We cheered for her if she would stand and got her a push toy, but she didn't like to stand and would quickly sit back down.  I think she was just very weak.  Each day she would seem to be able to do a little more than the day before.  And today she was amazing!

We went to the science center and she had a blast in the little kid area and was standing up to play - trying to walk by holding on to things and using her feet to move a ride on toy. We rewarded her with a new pink ride on toy for at home! And then she had a great time playing outside with the neighbors and did lots of standing! She still won't crawl - she scoots on her bottom - but I think she will be walking sooner rather than later!

Sporty Weekend

We had a fun weekend full of sports. Friday was the Expo for the Marathon and since I was running the half, G, Lainey and I headed down to pick up my packet.  I showed great restraint by not buying a ton of stuff, and ended up just getting a pair of socks (that turned out to be the best purchase ever!). The folks at the Cleveland Marathon booth gave Greg some pop rocks candy, which freaked him out a bit when they popped in his mouth.  Ha! 

Then after school and work we headed to the Olive Garden for dinner so we could officially carbo-load.

Then on Saturday both boys had their last football game for the season. (I don't have any pictures because those are on the other camera, and I barely know how to take pictures with that camera, let alone download them.)  Greg finished strong although had trouble pulling flags (he was sooo close) because his hands were cold, and he had a good run but got caught by a bigger 1st grader before he was able to score.  He had a great season though, with lots of TDs and flag pulls, and he is looking forward to next year when he will be a bigger first grader.

We thought Doug was done last week, but we didn't know about the final game where they play with "real football rules'.  His is an instructional tackle league, where they only use half of the field and have modified rules.  But for this game, they used the whole field and the rules are more similar to football (10 yards for a 1st down).  Doug had a great game! He was flying all over the field and made some great stops.  He also had a good run - he made a few guys miss and had a great cut to make the last guy miss and fall down - unfortunately Doug fell too.  But overall it was a great game and the team went out with a win!

Then Sunday we got up early to take me downtown for the half marathon.  It was chilly, but I tend to run better when it's cold, and ran a better than expected time.

So today I wanted to do something fun for Lainey.  I took her back to the pumpkin patch to play in the corn sandbox.  She loved it, even though you can't tell that from this picture.  But shoveling corn is serious business.

Happy Fall!

In addition to all our doctor appointments, we have been enjoying some of the fun things to do in the fall.  The boys have kept us very busy with their football schedules (one more week!) but they both have had a great time playing.  We also went down to watch my college alma mater's Homecoming parade with one of my college friends and her family.  We (of course) played a little football before the parade, and all the kids loved watching the parade (and especially loved the fact that they all got mini footballs - even Lainey!).  Lisa told Greg to do the "Heisman Pose":

Then this weekend we went to a birthday party at the local pumpkin patch.  It was extremely windy, which didn't mess up anything except our hair, but after the party we decided to head back out to the pumpkin patch to get some more pumpkins to carve.  And as soon as we headed out there it started to drizzle.  We quickly picked two, posed for this picture, and ran back inside.

Then we came home and decorated our smaller pumpkins with Mr Potato Head kits:

And here are our pumpkin creations on the front porch, waving:

In case it was hard to tell, Lainey's casts are orange! Her surgery went great and these orange casts will stay on for 3 weeks.  Then we will get the casts off and go to the orthotic center to have her fitted for braces (for her feet, not her teeth, as many of the kids at school like to point out).  Although speaking of teeth, she had her first check up with our dentist this morning.  She likes to brush her teeth, but they are very close together so we want to keep them brushed and flossed to avoid cavities.  And I think braces (for her teeth) will be necessary at some point too.

New Casts and a New Plan

I had been somewhat hesitant to let people sign Lainey's casts because the casts look bad enough, but all the signatures make them look even more messy.  But since the yellow casts were on for 2 weeks, and we had been outside a few times in them, they were dirty.  So I decided to go ahead and let people sign them this weekend.  Here is Lainey in her signed yellow casts before we went to the doctor today.

And here is Lainey in her new lime green casts.

So the new plan is that we are going forward with surgery.  The doctor feels that this will help speed up things so she can start walking.  And she seems to really want to walk (she walks if she can hold on to something), which he said is a good sign.  So next week I will take her in for a short out-patient procedure.  They will put another set of casts on her after the surgery (while she is still in the OR) which will stay on for 3 weeks, and then we will see how she is doing and make decisions from there.

Mommy's Helper

On Monday, Lainey went back in for new casts.  They took the casts off but the doctor was running late so we had time to hang out in the room and I took this picture. She has legs! :)

The doctor is pleased with her range of motion, but is concerned that her heel is not coming down and surgery now sounds like a possibility.  The new casts (yellow!) will stay on for 2 weeks and then we'll get another set of xrays and re-assess.

She continues to be a happy girl and likes to help me around the house. :)

Lainey's Dr appointments

Lainey has had 2 Dr appointments this week, and it's only Wed!  On Monday we went back to the ortho doc who took off the red casts and did a set of xrays.  He is pleased with the progress she is making and wants to continue with casting (no surgery for now - yea!).  

To celebrate Lainey turning 19 months old (not really, it just happened that way) we finger painted yesterday! Very fun activity, although Greg was home so he joined us for this craft, as did our neighbor girl, and I was struck by the difference between Greg and the girls.  Greg instantly swirled all his colors together for an ugly brown, then got it all over everything and 5 seconds later announced he was done. I told him this is why I don't do a lot of crafts with him. :)

And since it is a little cooler out these days Lainey has enjoyed playing outside.  She really likes this car. Note her new light blue casts.

And this morning we took Lainey to the opthamologist.  The International Adoption specialist referred her here for a comprehensive check-up.  Lainey is near-sighted so will definitely need glasses.  The doctor felt like we could hold off for 6 months and re-assess then to see if she is walking and if her vision has gotten worse.  Bless her heart.  Good thing we're good friends with an eye doctor. :) But everything else looks healthy.

And just in case you were wondering if Lainey can get around, here is a picture of her heading up the stairs.  Please ignore the boxes of legos that are waiting for "someone" to take upstairs....

Red Casts!

Last week was a big one for us.  Doug had his first full week of second grade, and seems to really be enjoying it.  Greg started kindergarten and loves it.  He seems most excited about riding the bus, gym and recess. (Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure those are Doug's favorites too).  Lainey went in for her new casts and we picked red in order to match our favorite college and high school teams! The red casts will stay on until next Monday, at which time the doctor will get some xrays of her feet and determine our next course of action.  If he is happy with the progress (especially in the heel area) then we will do another series of casts.  I'm not sure how long that would be, but I'm guessing 6 weeks.  If he does not think casting is going to be enough, then he will schedule her for surgery and then more casts. The casts still do not seem to bother her, and she figured out how to climb stairs with them this week.  I think the casts bother me more than her.  And not because everyone stares at us, but because she wants to climb on us or she accidentally kicks us, and that hurts! But we will hang in there.  It will all be worth it when she can walk! 

Purple!

This week Lainey's casts are purple! She continues to do very well.  The doctor was pleased again this week with how her feet are responding.  

Quick Trip to Washington DC

We took a quick trip to Washington DC over the weekend.  We drove out Friday and spent Saturday seeing as many things as we could. We nearly drove the boys to exhaustion, but we all made it.  Todd and I are both bad about trying to cram in as much as possible.  We told the boys it was like football training - you don't sit down when you're tired during a game - and you don't sit down when you only have a day and half to see things. They accepted the challenge and did remarkably well.  

After a breakfast at IHOP (which was a huge hit), we spent Saturday morning at the Air and Space Museum.  Todd loved it.  D and G loved it for a while and Lainey and I were a tad bored.  When Lainey is older, we're making them go through the First Ladies exhibit with us.  Anyway, then we got back on the metro and headed to the Zoo - walked around for a while there - then walked back to the Metro and went back to the National Mall to see the Washington and Lincoln Memorials.  After that we made a quick stop in the American History Museum and then headed to our hotel for dinner.

Sunday we went to the Museum of Natural History and then headed to a Nationals game.  Unfortunately it started raining and the game was delayed.  We waited around for a while - ate, shopped and ran into the Presidents (instead of hot dogs that race, they have these hilarious looking presidents.  Lainey was scared to death of them. Here are the boys with Lincoln.  We also met Thomas Jefferson and George Washington). But since we were going to drive home that night, we started to worry about how late it was getting and we ended up leaving before the game finally got started.  We will have to go back and try again some other time.

Pink Casts

Lainey went back to the ortho doc today for her 3rd set of casts.  The last set had to make it 2 weeks (since the doctor was on vacation last week) and they were falling apart.  The casts were getting so bad, we even put a little tape on it to hold it together. (They told us to do that if needed).  So they decided she needed the fiberglass this time to make the casts a little stronger.  They asked what color we should get and both boys said PINK.  

When they took the casts off and examined her feet, the doctor said both feet are really looking better.  The right foot definitely looks good (although it was better to begin with) and the left is making improvements, although he still wants the heel area to gain more flexibility.  But we are definitely on the right track. 

Lainey's Feet

The last couple weeks have been busy for us because of VBS at our church (and I was the director this year so I had a lot of prep work the week before).  But it went great and we all had a fun week.  Also during VBS week Lainey had her appointment with the orthopedic doctor at our Children's Hospital.  The doctor wants to do serial casting - so we will go in (almost) weekly to have the casts removed and they will then reposition her feet and re-cast.  (They are not breaking her feet - just positioning them and then casting them in that position). The last cast will come off September 10th and we will go from there depending on how well her feet respond to the casts.  Lainey is doing great with them - she still crawls all over, but she is much heavier! 

Zoo Fun

Greg is going to a summer camp at the Zoo this month and so far he has learned a lot about habitats.  Since his camp is just in the morning, Doug, Lainey and I stay and walk around the zoo too.  

But our zoo opened a new exhibit this year and Greg didn't want us to go see it without him.  So yesterday we decided that instead of going to the pool we would go back to the zoo to see the new exhibit.  It is a sting-ray touch pool and it is so much fun!  At first Doug was scared to touch them but by the end he didn't want to leave.  

The placement of the string-ray pool is brilliant from the zoo's marketing perspective.  First, you have to pay extra (not a lot and totally worth it) BUT if you upgrade and get the wrist band for the rides, then the sting-ray exhibit is included.  And the string-rays are smack in the middle of all the rides.  Total no-brainer. There was one ride Greg REALLY wanted to go on, but he wasn't tall enough to ride without an adult.  So, we called Daddy and asked him to come to the zoo after work to see the sting-rays and ride a few rides.  

Todd may be in the running for Dad-of-the-Year award since he did all this in his dress pants in 90 degree weather AND rode spinning rides (which neither of us like).  

Pool Fun

We love going to the pool! I finally convinced Doug to take the swim test. Okay, maybe it was less me and more the fact that his friends could go off the diving board and down the slide - but either way he did it and was so happy! He spent the rest of the day in the deep end.  

Lainey really loves the water too! She will sit in the baby pool and play with toys for a while but really likes to "swim" too.

And Greg is a little bummed that he isn't quite ready to take the swim test.  He is working so hard that maybe he can before the summer is over.  He had fun playing with dive sticks and jumping in the 3' 6" section (where he can't touch - so it seems deep to him)!

Baseball Season!

Baseball season is almost done at our house, but it has kept us busy this month.  Doing the laundry to make sure the uniforms are clean in time for each game is practically a full time job.  But it has been fun and both boys have done a great job and improved quite a bit.  

Doug has worked hard to improve his swing and fielding. He played short stop this year.

 Greg likes to play first base and is working hard at catching the ball. (Yes, that is a headless Todd coaching first base - Ha!)

Doug's Tri

Doug completed a kid triathlon the other week.  He really wanted to do it even though it was pretty chilly that morning.  Here is Lainey ready to cheer him on:

 Doug got his bike and clothes ready in the transition area and then got marked with his number:

 The swim was 75 meters in very shallow water, which was good because there was no chance for drowning, but made it hard to swim.  He mostly jumped (Doug is the one out of the water):

 Then he hopped on his bike and rode a mile:

 Then parked his bike and ran a half mile.

He was tired at the end, but did a great job.  Greg didn't want to do it this year since you have to be 6 to do the triathlon (under 6 it is a run - bike - run) but he says he wants to do it next year.

Happy Birthday Greg!

I feel like I have been cheating on blogger since I spent so much time on wordpress blogging about our journey to Lainey.  If you missed it, you can check out all the details on our new daughter here.  I have decided to just stick with this blog from here on out, so I changed the blog title, and will try and keep this somewhat updated.

As soon as we got home, Greg turned 5! I took him to our pediatrician and he had to get 3 shots (boo!) but he handled it like a champ.  I did catch him on the computer later that day and told him to get off and he said "but I had to get shots".  True enough.  I let him play a while longer.  He is in the 80% for height and 50% for weight.  And he loves playing on his Tball team.  Happy Birthday Greg!

Luck O the Irish

As promised, here is the story about the small gifts Doug opened. He really likes the little lego men, especially the ones that come in an opaque package so you don't know which one you are getting, but there are a set of (usually) 16 little men/women that it could be. Sort of like baseball cards. So he opened one pack in the morning, and then he was checking out the list that shows all of the lego men in the set. One of them is a leprechaun and Doug said how much he would love to have that one since his birthday is in March. And the snack we were taking in for his class that afternoon was actually cut out cookies that looked like shamrocks.

So, since it was his birthday, Greg and I snuck off to Target while he was at school and bought a few more packs with the hope one of them contained a leprechaun. It seemed possible that one would, but when he was down to his last pack, we were all pretty sure it was unlikely. Until he dumped it out and we all saw green:

What luck! :)

Happy 7th Birthday Doug!

On Thursday Doug turned 7! We gave him a few presents before school including his new bike. He was so excited to ride it when he got home from school, and it was warm enough to be out for a little while. When Todd got home we let him open a few more small things*, and I made his requested dinner (chicken fingers, cheesy rice, broccoli and rolls).

* I have a story about that, but I need a picture from the other camera. I'll try to post it soon.

Peaceful Week

Things around here were pretty peaceful this past week. Even Chloe has been tolerating Casey. Check this picture out:

And Todd has been running after work around the neighborhood. The boys wanted to go too, so we established the routine that Todd goes out for a few miles and then when he is done, he takes the boys on a short loop. One time even our neighbor friend went along. Here they are before they headed out:
And on Saturday we took the boys to Lowes for their Kid Build It Clinic. They had a fun time building a race car:
This week is Doug's birthday so let the craziness begin! :)

Like Old Times

Friday Doug had the day off, so it was like old times - the 3 of us able to hang out and play. We decided to try out a place that I had heard good things about called Sky Zone - where the floors and walls are trampolines:

Very, very fun! (And great exercise!) In the picture, you can see Greg bouncing off the walls (literally). Both boys kept doing that - and were really good at jumping from the ground to the wall and back to the ground. It looked like fun, but I was honestly scared to try it. But, I summoned all my courage and tried it....and....fell down. What is even funnier is that I was at the other side of the room (they separate jumpers by height) so I had no one to laugh with at the time, but later Doug said to me, "Mommy, we saw you fall". So we all got to laugh about it then. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week the boys had their Valentine's Day parties at school. Greg and I went to Doug's class to help with his party.

Today Greg and I met a friend for lunch close to campus, so we stopped for some quick shopping. It was all I could do to not buy Lainey a cheerleader outfit, but I know Aunt Barbara and/or Grandma Beth wants to. :)

Spring Weather!

We have been enjoying our relatively mild winter (although I would be lying if I said I wasn't secretly wishing for one really big snowstorm that snows us all in for at least a day). But, I enjoyed a long run outside this week and the boys had fun playing outside. Note about the picture: our driveway is sloped and I don't know if one of them is standing funny, but Doug is not that much taller than G.

Last week Greg got to go to a birthday party at a fun place that had lots of basketball hoops. He was in heaven. He also informed me this is where he wants to have his party.

In other random news, we had a super bowl party last week, which was very fun. The boys got into the idea of the game, but opted to color football helmets and play with their friends rather than watch the game. Although, what am I saying? I stood in the kitchen and talked the whole time. :)